Abyss twitched as the voice in his mind reminded him yet again.
α∂ƒє¢тυѕ ιѕ вєgιηηιηg тσ яєтυяη.
He ignored it yet again, balancing as he walked along the tip of the roof, gazing out upon the city of Aroughs. Small, delicate tendrils waved about him, preventing him from tilting too far in either direction as he kept his hands in his pockets.

The sliver of the moon hung low in the sky, the west still faintly blue with the light of the now long set sun. The pale light glinted off the buildings, coating the city in a faint wreath of cerulean against the navy sky.
уσυ ηєє∂ тσ яємємвєя α∂ƒє¢тυѕ.

He sighed, casting his gaze in a new direction towards the long, moonlit shadows blanketing the courtyard of the castle, occasionally cut through with patches of orange from the flaming torches on the walls.

A gentle, saltine breeze drifted by, carried in from the sea. Abyss turned to peer at the rolling waves, cast in a silvery sheen from the crescent moon above.
уσυ мυѕт яємємвєя.

He sighed again, refusing to acknowledge the pointless notification. He didn't want to get irritated now. The night was peaceful. He was surrounded in a faint aquamarine glow, comforting and safe.
уσυ яєנє¢т тнє мємσяу ωιтнιη уσυ.

𝙳𝚊𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞? He finally snipped, glaring at the side.
The insistent voice calmed, a weight settling upon him, almost soothing.
уσυ αяє яєנє¢тιηg тнє мємσяу ωιтнιη уσυ. It repeated.

Abyss sighed, exasperated. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜. He pointed out in frustration.
𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝!
вє¢αυѕє уσυ ∂σ ησт ℓιѕтєη. уσυ ∂σ ησт яємємвєя. тнє мємσяу ιѕ ωιтнιη уσυ, αη∂ уσυ ¢αѕт ιт αѕι∂є. The voice explained, though he couldn't understand the meaning of it's words.

Abyss stood there for a long moment, fighting his irritation before collapsing to a seat, pressing his hands to his sockets and sighing yet again.
𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍..
He gritted his teeth to bite back the desire to scream.

Suddenly, one of the many glowing, crystal-tipped waving tendrils nudged him, surprising him. Abyss blinked at it, confused.
He hadn't done that. Had he?

More of them began to slide closer, coiling around his arms and over his ribcage. He flicked several away, bewildered as he scrambled backwards and hit the wall of a tower, batting at the crystal ends.
He wasn't doing this.

уσυ яєנє¢т тнє мємσяу ωιтнιη уσυ… The voice murmured, the tendrils falling limp. Abyss paused, then slowly untangled himself from the mess, the attached limbs falling to the side as he felt something inside.. fall. As if giving up.

"I don't.." 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝! 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝. He explained, hugging himself as he stared at the distant moon.

The silence stretched on, the voice of Memory mute and unresponsive within him. The western sky fell into complete darkness, and the moon gradually rose in the sky. Abyss gazed at it, unwilling to move from his place, unable to sleep.

Little by little, the quiet hubbub petered off, the moon rising over the tower and out of sight, leaving him in a lengthy, black shadow that slowly gave away to the gentle aquamarine light that refused to die down.

One by one, the torches along the castle walls guttered out, leaving a sparse few sputtering tenaciously in their iron grips.
The briny breeze and distant crashing onshore called to him.

Finally, after hours and hours of sitting in place in silence, Abyss found it in himself to stand.
He looked at the rolling ocean, somehow captivated. Wave after wave after wave, endlessly churning along the shore, yet further out in the depths was nothing but liquid hills.

Each frothing crest shone with a swathe of aquamarine light, sparkling like gems, gleaming like the luminosity surrounding his form.
He couldn't look away from the push and the pull of the current, heaving itself onto the shore, grinding stone into dust, draining back to it's source only to roar back to the land, eating it away bit by bit, inevitable and all-consuming. Unconquerable, unfathomable, inevitable.

He suddenly found himself standing on the sandy beach, the surf pounding only feet away.
The crystalline ends of the tendrils were alive, waving back and forth as if drawn by the tide. The same watery radiance that splashed onto the sand and blazed within the crashing waves also glimmered from within himself.
α¢¢єρт уσυя мємσяу, ѕσυℓ gαια. The voice inside whispered.

He caught himself stepping closer, scarves dancing around him like seagrass.
"𝙷𝚘𝚠?" He whispered in kind and to the roiling sea.
The Memory did not speak, only drawing him nearer, to the sea, the sea, away from the petty squabbling of simple mortals and the games of waking minds and to the depths of what lies beneath, to the crystallized memories of saltine dreams.

Down he plunged, the sea flaring brilliantly in watery light as he sank deeper, not lost nor found, longing for the sense of completion he so craved, finding it closer to the deep trenches illuminated only in crystal.

In the eternal crushing twilight, a god recovered a lost fragment of self, a singular pearl had crashed into the deep from worlds unfathomable to this one, and there, a forgotten power was restored to a still mortal form.

The being shed the form of a monster to better return to the sea, the son of Evolution, the shattered god of Soul and Memories remembered a facet of itself in its new form.
Specifically, it recalled an old friend in clarity.

𝙻𝚒м𝚋σ. 𝙳𝚘 𝚢σ𝚞 𝚛є𝚖є𝚖в𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚖σт𝚒𝚘𝚗?

. • ° ° • .

Omega huffed to himself, sitting on the great wall and staring at the glowing water. It was endlessly fascinating. The ocean he knew didn't glow. It was simply the ocean, salty, full of life, enormous and pulled by tides caused by the Moon, but no glow.

The rhythmic crashing of the waves was calming, remarkably capable of soothing the constant swell of energy inside himself, sleep tugging at his sockets. He spent what must have been an hour at least fighting the desire to sleep watching it, but eventually the sounds of the tide won against his weary mind and he fell asleep on the battlement, curled into the gap.

He would have slept through the whole night even if it weren't for the sudden flash jolting him back awake, blinking in confusion and sleep-fogged sockets, lights fuzzy.
The view before him suddenly washed the tiredness from his system, replaced by bewilderment.

There stood Abyss, glowing unnaturally aquamarine like the waves, standing unnervingly still as he gazed out to sea, strange tendrils on his backside waving ever so slightly back and forth.
Omega blinked. Once. Twice.
What was he doing?

Then he straightened as the other practically stumbled to the water's edge, the glowing surf suddenly flaring as he met it, Omega already teleporting over.
"Hey what the hell are you doing?" He questioned, concerned at the unsteady movements of the smaller.

It seemed that Abyss never heard anything, splashing into the water as his scarves melded into one behind him, a sudden thin glowing membrane appearing between the strange appendages as they spread out like fins.

Omega froze at the sight, giving the other time to dart deeper into the water, disappearing in a flash of glowing seawater like a fish.
He was left standing in the surf, processing what he'd just witnessed.
"... What the fuck?"

. • ° ° • .

Beats leapt upright from the bed, gasping and clawing at his headphones as a familiar voice blared through the static of voices, so much stronger, deeper, echoing with strands of power he couldn't understand as it rumbled a single statement.

It was already echoing into static as he woke up, trying to remember what yanked him from a dreamless sleep so suddenly, rubbing his sockets. He glanced around, finding a dried green trail leading out the closed door.
That's where Kin went at least. He sighed, rubbing his headphones.

He fumbled with the knob for a moment, adjusting the dial through frequencies to try and find the voice again.
It had sounded like Abyss, but something about it was.. too present. Too strong for the small one, magnified too much. He had heard Abyss's thoughts blare at him before, and they weren't like that.

Pushing off the thick, cozy blankets, he hopped out of bed, meandering to the window to look at the sky.
Ever since encountering the Ra'zac's mounts and their terrible screeching hatred, he couldn't help but check if they were in the sky again.
Nothing. Not even a cloud in the sky.

Sighing, Beats shut the curtain, hugging himself. He shuffled closer to the door, considering putting his shoes on when the voice struck him again.
𝙸 𝚛є𝚖𝚎𝚖в𝚎я!

After gripping the headset, he sighed. "What do you remember?" He asked rhetorically, slightly annoyed at the mystery. The voice wasn't stressed or emotional in any way like the rest of the voices that always cut through the static. It just sounded.. distant. Too much force in something that should be softer.

Glancing around hesitantly, Beats searched for anyone nearby, listening for footsteps beyond the room.
Concluding that he was as alone as he could be, he scurried to the bed and threw himself on it, bundling up and gripping his headphones in trepidation of what he was about to do.

After a deep breath, he squeezed his sockets shut and slowly lifted them from his skull, wincing at the barrage of voices and the light he could see without seeing.

He sucked in a deep breath to steady his nerves, looking around without opening his sockets at the multitude of wavering lights and spotted the familiar sight of Kin, standing still. He recognized a few notes of the strange voice that was attached to his friend's mind, the pair seemingly deep in discussion.

After checking to make sure his closest friend was really okay and otherwise alone, he huffed and cast around, noticing a dull glow beneath everything, blurring all lights as the faint pulse of it dulled all mind noise from others as well. It felt familiar, but was brighter than the one he remembered seeing back in the Multiverse. Too bright.

All the background smears were brighter, their droning a little harder to ignore. Beats suddenly recoiled as the bluer light flashed in tune with the blaring words appearing ever so much louder without his headset in his mind.
𝙸 αм ησт 𝚛є𝚊∂𝚢. 𝙸 α𝚖 ησ𝚝 ω𝚑𝚘ℓ𝚎. 𝙸 𝚊м ησ𝚝.. 𝚖𝚎.

He gasped as it dropped several magnitudes, suddenly indistinguishable from his friend.
..Abyss..? He questioned himself as it continued.
𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠- 𝙸'𝚖- 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚖 𝙸??
уσυ яємємвєя єησυgн. A small, almost unheard voice seemed to reply from the same source.

𝙽𝚘 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝙸 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔?! The familiar voice cried in alarm.
уσυ ωιℓℓ яємємвєя.
𝙽𝚘, 𝚗𝚘, 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠! Abyss insisted, Beats listening on in confusion. The other voice never answered.
𝙽𝚘, 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠! 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚖𝚎! 𝙿𝚕- 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜- 𝙼𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚖𝚎!

Beats followed the pulsing light that matched the speed of Abyss's voice and located it's source to be somewhere out beyond Aroughs. He slapped his headphones back on, gasping as he opened his sockets to darkness, stumbling out of bed as Abyss's voice continued to weigh on him, the set unable to block out his panicked thoughts.

Dashing for the window, Beats cast his gaze past Aroughs and realized it was the ocean.
He's in the water? He asked himself as the voice practically bellowed in his skull frantic in whatever had become of the small, fluffy skeleton.
Yet now he had the feeling that something much larger than he could entirely comprehend was afoot. The idea had him shuddering.

"I'm so sorry, Abyss." He whispered to the window, feeling useless. "I hope you'll be okay soon."
With that, he stepped away from the glass, hugging himself.
Even now, he could never predict what would happen next.

. • ° ° • .

The giant door burst open with enough force to pop the hinges, the wood groaning in protest as Geno yelped himself awake, still in the middle of tiredly changing bandages as Cross stood frozen at the entrance. Reaper sneezed, wings fluffing out before the feathers settled back down and the couple stared at the monochrome.
"What?" Reaper asked.

"There's been alarming reports of something beached and I thought this was Red's room." Cross stated, still ordering his thoughts. Geno sighed, running a hand down his face.
"He's the room down the hall, asleep on the couch."

"Er. My bad." He started to close the door, but Geno stopped it with a hint of blue magic.
"Hold on, how is something on the beach an alarming report?"
Cross shrugged. "I've been hearing that it's large and alive. Thought I'd bring him in case backup is needed, what if it's sent by Galbatorix or something?"

"... Something on the beach." Geno deadpanned.
Cross rubbed the back of his skull awkwardly. "I mean, do you wanna risk that? It sounds possibly dangerous."
"You do realize it could just be a whale, right?"
"Reports said it had scales and fur."

At this Geno paused. Reaper blinked, straightening. "That's a weird combination." The god of death noted.
"Well now I'm curious. Come back after you get Red, we're coming with you."
"Wait, me?" Reaper asked. Geno gave him a look and he immediately caved.
"You know me too well, Gen-Gen."

Hesitating, Cross almost shut the door before asking. "You'll be ready then?"
"Cross, it's just a shirt I need, go."
"Right." He quickly shut it, rushing down the hall.

Geno snorted quietly, wrapping the last rib and reaching for a clean shirt. Reaper didn't speak, only thoughtfully look out the window.
"...Hey babe."
"Hm?" The bloody glitch hummed, slipping into his shirt.
"Did anything feel off to you last night?"

After a brief moment, he glanced back at the dark figure staring outside thoughtfully.
"Other than you arriving sometime past midnight?"
Reaper burst into blue, snorting. "No- I mean- other than that. Before I came back. After the stuff with Kin."
Thinking, he slowly put on his jacket. "..No, I don't think so. Why, did you sense something?"

"A bit. Something flared up north in the evening and then in the middle of the night something flared up and got me worried 'bout you, but you're fine. Now there's something on the beach? May have been that. Can't say I know for sure." He explained thoughtfully, drifting around the room.

Geno pondered this, then got up and strode over, tugging the god down and kissing him, startling him into poofing feathers again.
"That's why we're going to check it out now, isn't it?"

Now blushing radioactive blue, Reaper snorted. "Caught me off guard with that one."
Letting go of the black robe, Geno patted him. "I'm sure there's plenty of time for you to surprise me back later."
He headed for the door, leaving the room with Reaper still standing there in slight shock.

A few seconds passed and he reanimated, swooping after the bloody glitch with a dopey grin, catching up just in time to grab his shoulder as Cross teleported them all to a high wall on the beach, the walkway crowded with soldiers.

Several humans cried out in alarm at their arrival, but the commotion quickly muted in the face of some gathering at the water's edge. Reaper bent over. "You were going to leave withou-" He abruptly went slack.

Geno's indifferent gaze shifted to concern, Red already standing on a battlement and staring down, Cross beside it.
"You okay, Reaper?"

The god of death didn't respond, a blank look of disbelief on his face as he drifted to the battlement.
All three of the others caught the soft murmur.
"..Soul..?"
They went silent as he peered down at the beach, Geno rushing to see what it was about.
It was.. massive.

A serpentine creature with shades of blue and green lay before them. It's backside was cyan scales, only parted by the whitish blue length of damp fur going down it's spine, ending in a tuft and beginning as a mane around it's dragonic face.

It's body was a royal blue, speckled with turquoise and deep blue scales, underbelly more of a clouded navy, beset with powerful yet stubby legs, webbed talons a lighter sky blue.

Glowing teal spines poked out from it's elbows, aquamarine webbing stretched between them as their points widened into diamond shaped teal gems, more of the spines ringing the beast's tail and mimicking ears on either side of it's head. A single, bright blue diamond was set into its forehead, ringed by the pale fur.

The lengthy serpentine creature was half in the water, webbed talons covering its face as it seemed to hide itself from the world.
Geno took in all these details incredulously as Reaper drifted down towards the semi-aquatic reptilian.

There was a long silence before Geno huffed, leaping off the wall and falling several feet before teleporting to the ground, storming after the god as Red teleported straight to the creature and kicked it experimentally.

Geno grabbed the sleeve of the robe, finally garnering Reaper's attention. The god blinked at him, puzzled.
"The hell are you doing?" He demanded.
Reaper paused. "You.. you don't understand. That's Soul. I feel it. They should still be broken but they feel so whole." He glanced back at the enormous creature with angled, crystalline scales.

He finally stopped by it's paler, cyan snout, resting a hand on the slick surface.
"You there?" He asked softly, a deep blue blazing to life in his sockets.
The immobile form suddenly visibly tensed, Red yelping and hopping backwards, sharp bone attacks in his hands like that would protect him.
"Are you alright? You seem troubled." Reaper continued in the same gentle voice.

A second passed and it suddenly shifted, talons leaving it's face and revealing intense, blue-white eyes that bore into the god of death in an oddly frightened manner as the creature pushed itself away, forming dunes with the movement.

Reaper remained where he was, regarding it curiously.
"...You don't?"
It snorted, whining.
"How much do you remember?" He asked, visibly concerned.

The reptile nervously looked to the side, tense. It was somehow communicating, but not in a way Geno could understand at the very least.
Reaper was suddenly tense.
"Adfectus? You remember that one? They've been gone for.. eons. I barely remember anything of that old deity myself, but you-" He cut short, pondering.
"...Just them and Limbo?"
It hesitantly nodded.

Now the god of death started drifting to the side, deep in thought.
"Reaper, the fuck is goin' on here?" Red demanded. The god blinked as Geno shot the other a look, Red falling silent.

Though now Reaper was looking at them. He brought out his wings again- though when he put them away Geno wasn't sure- and pointed the end at the giant reptile.
"That's Abyss."

"YOU'RE SHITTIN' ME." Red immediately all but exploded, pointing an attack at the huge beast.
"THAT AIN'T FUCKIN' SHORTY."
The creature huffed, whine shifting into an irritated growl as the fins on its head angled outward, glaring at him.

Red stared for a long moment, disbelief shifting into horror.
"..Floofer?"
It bobbed it's head up and down.
"Alright, how the hell are you that?" Geno demanded, taking in the sheer size of the reptile.

Abyss blinked, then Geno inhaled sharply as a tremendous weight crashed into his mind.
𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎! 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝.. 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜! 𝙸 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔! He explained with a whine.
𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐!

Geno blinked several times, unsure of how to even begin to comprehend the absurdity when the group noticed several new arrivals teleporting in with flashes of colored light.

He turned to see Beats standing with a reclusive Kin behind him, Bird staring with blank sockets beside them. Abyss recoiled, shuffling backwards on heavy limbs into the ocean.
𝙾𝚑 𝚐𝚎𝚎𝚣. His voice pressed into Geno's mind.
𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.

"No, wait." Beats spoke up, racing over much to Kin's alarm, the green one quickly following.
"Abyss! It's okay, I know it's you!"
"Hold on, what you just say?" Bird spluttered, wings fluttering anxiously as the fur on Abyss abruptly fluffed up, eyes wide.
𝙷𝚘𝚠..?

Beats slid to a stop, grasping at his headset and nodding at Geno before regarding the now.. reptilian Abyss.
"I heard everything! Or most of everything. Your frequency got loud in the middle of the night! Really loud!"
.. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝?

"You were begging some Memory guy to help you turn back?" Beats suggested, face quirked with mild concern and curiosity. The statement had Abyss suddenly far more anxious, stumbling to his feet and scrabbling for the water, massive tail swinging over them, forcing everyone to duck in alarm as the crystal-tipped spines narrowly missed them.

𝙽𝚘𝚙𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚑 𝚐𝚎𝚎𝚣 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎- He rambled, Geno growing increasingly concerned as the aquatic reptile dragged his bulk into the waves. Beats cried out for him to stop, shouting apologies as the roiling mental weight kept rambling, fading out as he struggled to coordinate himself.

Finally, Reaper interrupted, yelling something that was indecipherable amidst the ruckus, yet picked up by the aquatic reptile, a head fin flaring out before turning.
𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝? He asked.

"You're running because a mortal knows your situation? C'mon, that's low." Reaper snickered, hovering almost level with the other's eyeline, tilted to the side with his arms behind his skull.

Abyss narrowed those snowy blue eyes at him. 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝? He questioned, odd fleshy whiskers on his snout waving.
Reaper glanced at Beats, then at Abyss again.
"He is one."
𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎.

"I think that's beside the point. The real question is why you're so afraid of someone mentioning this.. Memory." Geno spoke up, arms crossed. Abyss growled in frustration, the sound deep like a distant avalanche.

𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎, 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚍 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐! "𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢" 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛! Finishing up his rant, he huffed, blowing out a cloud of bluish mist.

"That makes no sense." Geno mumbled confusedly.
𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. Abyss rumbled again.
Reaper then drifted closer, pondering the new information.
"..What exactly happens when.. Memory says you're rejecting it?"

His eyes suddenly flashed bright as he whipped around in irritation.
𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸'𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐!
"No, I mean-" Reaper huffed, then flapped, darting over beside the reptilian's head.

Abyss listened to him speak a moment before growing visibly puzzled.
𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗?
Reaper continued, and Abyss blinked.
𝚆𝚑𝚢.. 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎?
He then arched his neck back, eyes wide.
𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗?? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝?
The god of death huffed, patient and amused.

After a minute or so, the eyes slowly glazed in bewildered understanding.
𝙸.. 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝. He admitted before looking down in concentration. Geno abruptly winced as the force on his mind intensified, feeling almost like it was reaching in and crushing him at the core.
He fell to his kneecaps and scrabbled at his shirt as the reptile's eyes began to glow aquamarine, tendrils rising from his fur, branching and tipped in teal spheres.

Beats whimpered somewhere nearby as everything began to glow, watery swathes of light rippling out from Abyss as the ocean began to rise, floating up from the seabed as it began to swirl, his vision beginning to go white as the weight overpowered him, forcing him to the ground as pain lanced through his skull.
Geno groaned, pressing his hands to his skull in agony.

. • ° ° • .

It made sense now. In a strange, right is left, up is down, in is out sort of way, but something just clicked. He could feel how loosely structured he was inside, how his body wasn't solid, but magic. More magic than anything else, crystalized into solid, impregnable shapes. The self was really not so different from an attack.
He could be anything. A skeleton he did not have to be.

He remembered what happened before, changing into a form that could better traverse the depths unseen by the sun, an endless twilight of living stars and color. But now he wanted to be lighter. Something more familiar.
What was familiar?

..Yes. Small. Fluffy. He was of crystal, of memory, not entirely, only part, but..
His center was not centered. His own thoughts stretched out beyond what he should have been able to grasp, lost in desynchrony of broken selves, scattered shards, coalescing and clinging to shreds of life in a now dying Multiverse, drawn to the center of it all so far removed-

Everything snapped back into place, the bewildering, unfathomable thoughts pushed to the back, ignored as Abyss returned to himself, stumbling in a form that wasn't what he had the night before.

𝙾𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛. He stared at his disjointed arms, made of hovering shards of crystal and luminous turquoise tendrils. Hands made of the strange ropey things clung to the sand, his body faintly hovering as great wings of a familiar fur arched over him.

Looking up, he saw the mortified face of Red above him.
…Abyss was much smaller than he was trying to be, too.
"What.. the fuck..?" The other breathed, taking a step back.
"I have no idea, I'm a little freaked out now." Abyss found he could speak now, even if the voice was nothing like himself, oddly feminine.

"Why do I sound like this??" He questioned before an overpowering wave of memory flooded him.
She loved the boys so much. They were her brothers, and she was their sister. She might not have looked the same, but Gaster had made her his, and she was happy. No more cold darkness and voices, she could fly throughout ALL the Underground! The monsters, they were so kind, so wonderful, even when she was not like any monster. She was Kaz. Her elder brother was Sans, her younger Papyrus. They were going to be free one day, and could experience the Surface tog-

It all went wrong.
There was dust, dust everywhere. She could feel the remnants of their Souls crying out "Human! Human!" And she panicked.
Where were they? Where was everyone? Were they all dead? How could she let this happen?
Flowey appeared before her, shaking and crying in fear and confusion.

"Sans-" He stammered. "The Judgement Hall. The human's going to kill him like they killed Papyrus!"
No. It couldn't be. How? He was- no, she couldn't lose Sans too, not the only one left!

She fled to the distant Hall, flying faster than she'd ever flown before. Her tears crystalized before they even hit the ground, reacting with dust to form eerie flowers of gemstone, glittering mournfully in the dim light of the failing Underground.
They were all gone. A strangely familiar darkness pervaded the air, poisoning and malicious.
…She both knew and did not know what it was.

She flung herself through the doors into the golden Hall, gasping as she beheld a red light arcing towards an exhausted Sans.
"NO-"

He snapped awake at the last second, a spark of blue flaring but too late, the red cut into him, knocking him back several feet before he regained his balance, shuddering before a second slash drove into him. He nearly fell over, letting out a soft wheeze as his wavering eyelights met hers.

Kaz screamed, the human turning from having just walked past him, the little creature of crystal throwing herself at the dusting figure that she called her brother.
"PLEASE- don't leave me! You'll be okay- just- h-hang on, hang on, we can fix everything, ju-u-ust ho- just hold on-" She pleaded as he brought up a hand, smiling weakly.

"I'm so sorry, Kaz. I c- can't. I'm.. tired. Go home, Kaz. Stay safe. Stay alive for me, will you?"
"N-no, please- I don't want to be alone again." She begged, wings clinging to his dissolving phalanges, the dust working it's way between the gaps of her wings.
He gave her a strained smile, trying to be strong for one last time. "I'll be okay. 'Kay? Don't you worry about me."
"No-" She sobbed as his face melted away, jacket collapsing as the structure beneath turned to dust.

Kaz was left hovering in place, gasping as she watched it spread across the floor, bleaching the buttery tiles. "No-" She whispered to the settling pile, the profound realization that he was the last of everyone beginning to truly set in.

They had vanished, cut down like grass to the blade of some random.. human that had appeared out of nowhere.

She couldn't take her lights off the dust.
Even when the footsteps approached.
Even when they sped up.
Even as the red light came down on her.

Up until she was crashing down beside the pile, cracks spreading from a single gaping slash, bleeding turquoise and silver. It was agony.
But her agony soon transformed into fury.

This cannot be.
The wisps of a lost Soul were abruptly grabbed, becoming visible as strands of turquoise reached out from the core of the creature of crystal, her aquamarine eyes burning as she slowly rose, dust swirling as the shard of Evolution's creation demonstrated its heritage.

The human coated in shattered darkness recoiled at the light, blinking away spots as they discovered the new figure standing before them.

Confused. A new, familiar/unknown body. Name? Ka-Sa-zan-So-no. Not right. Who? Wait.
Them.
They ruined everything.
Killed everyone. Killed Papyrus.

But that darkness was familiar.
Soul-Sans-Kaz recognized it, yes. A killing darkness. Shatterer. Broken cycles.
They finally saw the human as they were.
Human.
A child.
Lost to darkness and broken by it, the evil smiling through a sobbing face.

"𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞." The new form stated, eyelights blazing cyan instead of blue or aquamarine.
"𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍."
The darkness was unimpressed, adjusting their grip on the knife.

The other simply set their feet on the ground, crystal-tipped chains forming around them.
"𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍?" Asked the new being, chains spinning threateningly.
The darkness did not respond, instead lunging for an attack.

They were not even there, a familiar/unfamiliar skull forming beside them, smaller, rounder, crystals embedded into it as it fired, incandescent light and crystals shredding through the tiles.
"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎."

The battle passed in a blur of moments, chains encapsulating their prey and ending both lives, one in raging dissolution and another in gratitude.
They were left standing in a barren hall, staring blankly at the scorched corpse as their mind/minds no longer focused on one goal, stuttering internally in confusion.

Memories, two minds of vastly different magnitudes clashing and lost, until the world began to tremble, cracking apart as harsh bleached yellow and aggressive red blared through the fissures.

ㄚㄖㄩ. A horribly familiar, raging tone crashed into their confused thoughts, the reality parting as bronze flames spilled out, an enormous, glowing red needle of a limb stepped out, followed by another, the sheer heat of it cracking the tiles and sucking out all the moisture in the air.
They felt a sense of dread, stepping backwards.

Then a sudden cool breeze washed over from behind, causing them to turn and see the door behind them had turned to water, glowing shades of blue and aquamarine, rippling as a soft, aching voice whispered.
"Come to me. Fate will not encroach here. Hurry."

ㄚㄖㄩ 山丨ㄥㄥ 几ㄖㄒ ㄥ乇卂ᐯ乇. ㄚㄖㄩ ᗪ乇丂ㄒ尺ㄖㄚ乇ᗪ ㄒ卄丨丂 山ㄖ尺ㄥᗪ. ㄚㄖㄩ 山丨ㄥㄥ 丂乇乇 丨ㄒ 乇几ᗪ.

They looked back to see blazing orbs of red-orange spinning in a circle, surrounded by rings of molten gold, dripping metal onto eight red legs of arachnid nature, eight wings of both avian and dragonic shapes formed of bronze flame arching over the being, blazing red strings reaching down and attaching to the now blackening corpse, hair burnt to ashes, skin and muscle flaking away in the heat as the threads began to puppet the remains, standing with what may have been a glare on the blackened bones.

They had seen enough, diving through the warping door and into the cooling blue currents, bubbles surrounding their form as they began to sink.
The water solidified into arms, comforting the new form.
"I will take you far away from Fate." The familiar voice spoke.
"You can live as you wanted, my dear. I.. can wait. Remember that you are loved. Now go. You have a universe and existence waiting for you. Go.."

They were released, falling towards light, memories flashing and fading and leaving, a copy of selves forming into something much like the form they had taken.
ι αм ησт муѕєℓƒ, ι αм ησт ωнσℓє ι ωιѕн тσ вє- ωαηт тσ яємємвєя, ι-ωє ∂σ ησт яємємвєя- у- уσυ ∂σ ησт яємємвєя. ησт ωнσℓє. тαкє мє вα¢к, ι αм ησт мє. тαкє мє вα¢к! The other self cried, reaching out with solidifying limbs even as they fell away, their own form fading into nothing, confused as memories slipped away.

ι яємємвєя. ι яємємвєя. ι, ι αм- ησт- ι ¢αηησт ƒєєℓ! ι αм ησт.. яєαℓ.. ι αм ησт мє. It lost it's emotion, fading into lurid monotony, a dreamy quality overtaking it's blurred features as it faded from sight.

The dream began to warp and blur, fading into oceanic swirls, gemlike swirls fading in and out as a familiar form took shape in both mind and body.

Abyss gasped as he shoved himself up from a bed, stinking of brine and still damp with the sea. He choked, a figure materializing in his mind as the wash of memories continued to berate him, telling him he was nothing like he thought he was.

A hoarse groan forced itself from his ragged ribcage, gripping the sides of his skull.
"Abyss? Are you alright?" A kind voice asked, bidding him to look up.
For a moment, he saw the shape of his Memory gazing back at him before it faded, revealing a concerned Alter. He looked away, unable to form a sentence.

Alter reached over, resting a grounding hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to speak if you don't want to. Take your time."
He moaned quietly, his wings curling closer- wait.
They should be scarves.

He glanced back, seeing the silvery limbs covered in feather-like tufts of fur, flashes of aquamarine in their depths.
They weren't shifting back.
Abyss buried his skull in his arms, groaning.

"I get the distinct impression that you just remembered a bunch of things that you weren't ready for." Reaper spoke up from somewhere in the room.

He looked up, glaring at the god in the corner and seeing a ghost of Memory standing beside the dark robed one.
"Maybe it's the knowledge that I was never a Sans in the first place?" He asked scratchily.

"Oh?" The god of death swooped closer, intrigued. "What makes you say that?"
"I.." He hesitated, unsure of how to feel or answer.
"I'm.. two people.." He murmured, hugging himself.
"And how is that so?" Reaper asked, tilting until he was upside down, face level with Abyss's.

"I.." He slowly brought out his Soul, wings concealing it from a respectfully silent Alter.
It was the same shape as before, white, but a dense orb of aquamarine surrounded it.
He knew the shell used to be simply energy, now a solid shape he could touch. Reaper drifted backwards, righting himself as his expression turned a little more serious.
"Definitely unique, I'll say that." He muttered, studying it.

Abyss was drowning in a flood of memories, now realizing what he was looking at, his mind still somewhere in a realm of crystal and rivers of the stuff of Souls, glowing with what once was and never been.

The ghost of Memory, Transcendence, strode closer, misting at the edges as it touched the shell.
уσυ αяє яємємвєяιηg, вυт ησт αℓℓ. ι ƒα∂є ιηтσ єηтιяєту. уσυ мυѕт яємємвєя ωнσ ωє ωєяє αη∂ ωнαт уσυ αяє ωнєη ωє вє¢σмє αgαιη.
With that, it dissolved into watery light, returning to the shell and connecting to the Soul beneath.

Reaper was studying him with an unreadable look on his face.
"...I think you're ahead of schedule, Soul Abyss." He noted thoughtfully.
"Heh. Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it." He added quietly.

Abyss stared at him through the haze of different shades of recognition, a familiarity beginning to set in. Reaper blinked at the expression, daring to smile faintly.
"Remember anything about me?"

He couldn't figure out how to put all that was running through his mind into words.
Instead, he ended up blurting a random fact.
"You like fermented fish."

Instantly he clammed up, backing away and stammering through a blush. "That was so long ago, why is that your first- gaaahhh-" He hid behind his wings in embarrassment.
Now he snorted, half watching, half sorting out his memories.
"Uh.. Grim?"

Reaper paused, cautious. "..You only knew him when he was still little." He huffed, smiling sadly. Abyss blinked, sorting through what he knew- all he could recall were moments of the Papyrus being a small tagalong that clung to Reaper's robes, the other younger with a much stronger aura as well, often gripping his scythes like lifelines.
He remembered.

Abyss abruptly stood up with a slight rain of sand, rubbing his skull in a menial attempt at clearing the fog and only scratching off crusted salt. His entire self felt electrified, pulsing with light as his wings flared. The distant whispers of others' thoughts filtered in through his overwhelming memories, distracting him from focusing.
Then he noticed the extra appendage.

He spun, seeing the waving, watery limb that split into sections, tipped in gems and waving around a thin strip of fur along the top.
"Why do I have a tail? I thought I was normal again!"
"Have you checked the wings recently?" Reaper pointed out, now leaning against the wall.
Abyss shot him a suspicious look, then turned.

They had turquoise, branching tendrils spread throughout them, emitting that same aquamarine glow. It was almost like the fur had parted to reveal what lies beneath, pulsing faintly. He dropped them, letting the fur ruffle against the floor as he sighed defeatedly.

"Overwhelmed?" Reaper suggested.
"Yes." He agreed fervently, dragging his phalanges down his face. "I just want some time to.. think." He hesitated as he felt Memory's presence return, feeling more like a fragment of himself awakening than anything else.
"Can I be alone for a bit?" He asked, stress evident.

Reaper saw this, wings dropping. He nodded, heading for the exit as he landed on his bare feet, wings vanishing into smoke as he quietly left, Alter regarding Abyss in concern before he too, nodded and went out the door.
It clicked as it slid shut, leaving Abyss in an empty room, still covered in salt and sand.

He sighed. He knew what needed to be done now, even if only faintly. His eyelights flashed cyan, and a section of the floor before him began to liquify, forming a circular shape as the center fell away to liquid, deep and blue with ripples at the top, cut through with shades of light as the air around it turned fuzzy, shapes blurring until indefinite, just shadows and smears of color. The only thing with clarity was the round pool opening up in the middle of the room.

His realm wasn't quite itself, too dreamy, too light, above this realm rather than below.
Abyss understood what was wrong now, but how to fix it was still fuzzy and just out of reach.

"𝙼𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢." The name rose, unbidden, and he fell through the water, the gateway fizzling out as it closed behind him.

Omega stood blank-faced in the doorway, forgetting what he came in there for.
He slowly closed it, struggling to process what he had just seen as he stared at the wood.
"What the fuck?!"